Welcome to Twilight Town
by Maesterlicious
Summary: * hayner.lenne * Just when you thought the Heartless were done ravaging the worlds, they find a new target: Spira. But what happens when everyone's favorite songstress ends up in Twilight Town, fresh from the middle of a battle? Rated for later chapters.


Long, slender and tanned legs stepped out onto the stone platform. The burnt sienna, chocolate and maroon colored boots hardly made a sound as the figure turned to look back at the train she stepped off of. Hair identical to the chocolate of her boots swished around and multi-colored beads clicked against each other as the woman glanced around. She noticed that the train she had just gotten off of was nothing like the other trains at the station. The train she was on was an almost midnight blue, while the others in the station were an orange color that matched well with the walls of the station.

Well, as if that didn't make her feel any more like a stranger…

But what else could she do? Those nasty little shadow fiends had overrun her home. What had Yen Sid called them? Heartless? Apparently some kid named Sora had solved the problem a few years before, but they still roamed around the worlds. The whole story confused her, but she was sure that if she told someone her story, they'd be just as clueless. Yen Sid's words came back to her as she though about that.

_Lenne, you must be careful with your words. Don't speak of your homeworld around others that don't know anything of the Keyblade wielder. Your most reasonable option is to stay in Twilight Town and await Sora's return there. He's bound to want to visit his friends, and he can help you return home._

Although, she wasn't so sure she wanted to go back home. Yes, she had duties to server as both a Summoner and a songstress in Spira, but she knew that even after she returned home, the war between her home city and the place where her faith lay was going to start back up again. To be honest, she didn't even know if that war was ever going to cease.

But now wasn't the time for Lenne to be thinking about that. Lightly dusting off her dark sleeves and blouse, she started making her way out of the train station. She sent a wave to the young man selling tickets as she came down the steps, but she stopped and backtracked. Walking up to the window, she leaned forward, rested her elbows on the sill and folded her hands under her chin, then turned up the charm. "Excuse me, sir. Would you happen to know if there are any vacant apartments around here?"

Lenne resisted the urge to sigh when she saw the man's eyes look straight at her chest before meeting her own eyes. "Name's Wedge. And yeah, there should be some apartments are something for rent out at Sunset Terrace. It's in the residential district of Twilight Town." He paused, and then winked at her. "I could take ya out there if you'd like, sweets. It ain't that far and another train ain't coming for at least an hour."

Okay, so maybe she used a little too much charm. Lenne shook her head politely and smiled. "No thank you. I'm sure I can find my way there. Thank you for your help, though." She gave Wedge a little nod before turning to leave.

"See ya later then, sweets," he called after her. Lenne could feel his eyes on her until she walked out of the station. Sure, she was used to getting attention like that, but no one had ever been so bold about it—no one except Shuyin, of course.

The brunette let out a sigh as she lifted her eyes to the beautiful sunset in front of her._Shuyin, I hope you're okay. Be safe,_ she prayed silently. If anything, he would be the one thing that brought her home.

Lenne continued to look at the sunset and noticed something. Turning around, she looked at the sign for the station: Sunset Station. She laughed to herself at the recurring theme. It was just like Spira in that sense—spheres were a part of everything there.

Smiling a little to herself, she started to walk through the plaza and down Market Street. Lenne mused that the streets here weren't anything like the ones she knew in Zanarkand. There were only a few people here and there along the street, where in Zanarkand, people lined the streets and it was almost a task to make her through the crowds at times. If anything, this town reminded her of Kilika, minus the fact that Twilight Town wasn't a floating town. And from the looks of it, it was bigger, too.

When she caught sight of a bulletin board just before the last incline of the street, she stopped and looked at it; an announcement board for jobs. She tapped the board twice as if to remind her it was there as she walked away from it. Having a job would definitely help—she had no clue how long she was going to be there. She saw something about a job as an entertainer. She could do that.

Lenne peeked down the incline in front of her and decided against going that way. It looked a lot busier than the rest of the town, so she headed to her right.

As the songstress walked into the area, she took notice of a group of teenagers and… was that a black mage? She had only seen them in books—that was what they supposedly looked like thousands of years ago. The mage was standing on the side where a tall blond boy was, flanked by a silver-haired girl and a dark-tanned boy, quite a bit darker than herself. Across from them was a shorter blond boy, next to a brunette girl and a dark-haired boy.

Doing her best not to eavesdrop, she looked around for something to distract herself with. Luckily, there was a sign to her left, and she quickly walked over to it, trying to avoid being noticed by the residents. She read the sign. It looked more like a sign-up sheet than anything else. It was something about Struggle tournaments.

Lenne soon noticed the presence of someone standing next to her. She turned to see a hefty looking man with interesting facial hair standing there, and she smiled at him. He spoke before she could ask him anything. "Are you interested in participating in a Struggle tournament?"

Her smiled widened a little; so she had been right. She shook her head. "No thank you," she declined. "I was just looking around. It's such a peaceful town."

The man laughed. "If those two weren't constantly going at it, then it might be. They're good kids, don't get me wrong, but they always have something to argue about." Lenne looked questioningly over at the teens, and the man chuckled again. "So you're new here then, right?"

Lenne nodded. "Yes, I am. Is it obvious?"

The man grinned. "Just a little." He held out his hand. "Just call me Biggs."

The Summoner stared at the hand he was holding out, and then she finally got it. She took his hand and shook it, smiling again. "I'm Lenne." It had been a while since she used that greeting. Ever since the faith of Yu Yevon came into existence, they traded signs and greetings; the sign used for victory in blitzball had been changed into a greeting for Yevonites while hand shaking had simply been thrown away. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Biggs nodded. "If I were you, I'd make friends while I'm here. And choosing between those two… well, go with Hayner's group." He pointed at the three-person group. "Seifer's okay, but he's a bit disliked around here. Fuu would probably get jealous if you started hanging out with him, anyway. She doesn't talk much, but when she does and she's mad, her words cut pretty deep." He placed a hand on her bare shoulder and nodded at her. "Good luck while you're here, either way. I hear there's some places for rent out around the residential district." Lenne nodded; people certainly were friendly around here and didn't mind helping her. "Getting a job around here isn't all that hard, especially if you've got talent."

Lenne smiled. "Thanks a lot, Biggs. It won't be that hard to find a job, if that's the case, though." She watched him leave the area and she chanced a glance over at the teenagers. She expected them to be arguing still, and yes, they still were.

"…losers are just jealous because I'm more important."

"Why the hell would I be jealous of _you_?!"

"Because I have connections with the yearbook editor. She lets me have first dibs on where my photo goes."

"Yeah. And Seifer's the greatest, y'know?"

Lenne had to hide her smile behind her hand. To her, it was how they argued.

"Besides, the Disciplinary Committee always has their photos in the front. And I thrashed you in the Struggle tournament."

"Yeah, well… you're not as great as you think you are!"

"Nice comeback there, blondie. Why don't you go to your little 'usual spot' and cuddle with your girlfriend."

"Excuse me? I'm _no one's_ girlfriend, got it Seifer?"

"I'm sure I could fix that."

Lenne turned away by this point. Maybe she could talk to them when they weren't in the middle of an argument like this. Turning around to walk away, she felt eyes on her again. She turned her head towards the teens and shivered slightly. Seifer's cold eyes were sending her an icy glare. This could be good.

"Look what we've got here—an outside," he called as he walked towards her. Lenne rubbed one of her bare arms a little and tried to pretend she didn't know what he was talking about. "And a cute on at that."

He was way too close for comfort. "Is there something you want?" Lenne mentally winced. That came out a little too harshly.

"And she's got spice," Seifer said with a chuckle as he took a few more steps towards her. "I should be asking you the same thing."

Lenne sighed and glanced over the blond's shoulder to see what was going on with the rest of the group. The dark-skinned boy and Hayner were still arguing while Fuu and the others were watching both her and Seifer, and Hayner and the other boy at the same time. She then felt a pressure on her chin and her face being pulled to look at him. Seifer was pulling her towards him, and his face was getting closer. She glared a bit at him and repeated herself, anger tinting her voice. "Is there something you want?"

Seifer seemed taken aback for less than a second at her sternness before he scoffed and pushed her away by her chin, causing her to stumble backwards against the sign-up board. "Don't you talk back to me, you—ungh!"

Lenne forced herself to regain her balance and she looked over to see Seifer sprawled on the ground several feet away and Hayner holding a blue bat in his hand, breathing a little hard. The rest of the group ran over, the dark-skinned boy crouching down next to Seifer, Fuu and the black mage on his other side. Hayner's friends ran up and stopped behind him. "Hayner, you idiot," the brunette scolded him.

"What?" Hayner exclaimed, straightening back up and looking at her. "Did you see what he did to her, Olette?" He pointed at Lenne as he spoke.

"That was a cheap shot, y'know?" the other boy accused Hayner.

Fuu finally spoke up. "Unfair."

Hayner visibly bristled. "Shut up, Rai! He shouldn't be pushing around girls like that!" He was about to say more, but Lenne held up her hand to stop him.

"He's right," she said, closing her eyes and smiling. She could feel energy sparking in her hand as she tried to call forth her staff, Nirvana. "It _was_ a cheap shot." She smiled and opened her eyes when she felt cold steel of her staff in her hand. Lenne brought the staff close, using her other hand to slowly trail along the handle. Her hand stopped when she felt the string, beads and fur rub against her hand, and she held it out, perfectly horizontal. "No one should ever abuse a woman like that."

Seifer jumped up and started to lunge towards her, but he stopped short when the staff crackled with energy, blue sparks zipping up and down the length of the staff. "I apologize," Lenne started, a mischievous smile spreading across her lips. "But you don't want to fight with me. You'll lose."

Seifer started towards the brunette again, but he wasn't quick enough. Lenne spun Nirvana in her hands once, and then pointed it at Seifer. "Relax, take it easy," she called, and she smiled when he started to move slowly.

His face contorted with horror as he realized he could hardly move. "Why can't I move?" he cried.

Lenne smiled. "Oh, you can move. Just not that quickly." Placing the bottom tip of Nirvana on the ground and a hand on her black pleated skirt-clad hip, she watched as he tried to run and only managed to make himself look pretty silly. Hayner and the other boy were howling with laughter while Olette was stifling her giggles behind her hand. Even that little black mage was laughing.

Rai and Fuu grabbed Seifer's arms and headed out of the sandlot. As he was being dragged out, he called out, "You'll pay for this, chickenwuss!" The black mage reluctantly followed, still laughing a little.

When they finally left, Hayner grinned up at Lenne as she sent Nirvana away. "That was pretty neat!" the other boy exclaimed.

Lenne smiled again. "That was just a basic Slow spell."

Olette looked up at her, curiosity all over her face. "Spell? You mean like the magic that Sora used sometimes?"

So they knew about Sora, then. Well, that made things easier. "That's what I've heard, yes," she replied. Yes, Yen Sid had told her about how this Sora kid and his friends used magic. Apparently, there was a mage among the group—all he used were spells. "If you ever have problems with that guy again, let me know, alright? It's been a while since I've actually used magic; that spell was a little rusty," she said, winking at them when she finished.

They laughed again, and Olette spoke up. "You're new here, right?" Lenne nodded. "I'm Olette," she introduced, holding out her hand. Lenne shook it. "This is Pence," she gestured to the other boy, and he waved. "And your savior here is Hayner." He just grinned and scratched the back of his head.

Lenne smiled at all of them. "It's a pleasure to meet you all. I'm Lenne." She looked at the group, but when her eyes rested on Hayner, she noticed something. He had the same dirty blond hair and brown eyes that Shuyin had. Thinking back on Hayner's actions and words, Lenne realized that they ever acted alike, especially when it came to protecting her.

She stared for another moment or so until she Hayner's hand waving in front of her face. She jumped a little as she was jolted out of her thoughts and she felt a little bit of heat rise to her cheeks. "Hey, Lenne. Are you okay?"

Lenne nodded and smiled a little. "Oh, yes. I'm fine. I was just… thinking." Her smiled brightened when she saw Hayner grin, and she couldn't help but be reminded of Shuyin again.

Pence and Olette looked at each other and smiled, and Lenne noticed. _Oh, damn. They're already jumping to conclusions?_

"Well anyway," Hayner started, and then grinned. "Welcome to Twilight Town."


End file.
